Trouser hanger



Jan. 1'0, 1 950 v E. T. MCNUTT, .JR 2,494,400

TRoUsER HANGER Filed April 18, 194e 2 sheets-sheet 1 l ,nyc- 33 EDWIN T- MGNUTT, JR.,

Jan. l0, 1950 E. T. MCNUTT, JR

TROUSER HANGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 18, 194e @www Patented Jan. l0, 1950 IT EKD STATES OFFICE 3 Claims.

Myfmvention relates: tohangers for trousers.

.Inlparticirlam relatesto hangers for supporting trousers byfengagementwithi the cuffs thereof.

object oimy-inventionis toprovide` a trousers hanger wliiolr sirnprlel in construction and which-.wilil'srrppnrta pafi'rof trousersinA a nat condmmmsn as te, preservel the press or creaseor the trousers.

A'rmthnrobeotisf to devise a trousers han-ger lraivingtparts whiohxengage in the ffolds ofthe cuffs oi theC trousers;Y the-parts; being so arranged: that they waillnotdamagethe materialfof'the trousers.

Ajurther. object iste-devise atrousers hanger which .the weight oil the trousers upon the hanger tends to spread the supporting parts of fingthe lower centralfpart of Figure 1l in side elevation;

Figure. S yis a seetional View o Figure. 2( taken along the line lil- 35. Y

Fi'gllre 4; i's-a transverse sectional view. showing one end` oi the 'hanger engaging" thecuffs on the two legsofa pair of trousers Figine 5 is. a perspective view of .another ernbod'imentzofmyinvention; Y

'Figure 6 is a side view showing the hanger of liigure` in folded position;

Figure 'T isa transverse sectional View of Figure 5' showing one endf Aof the hanger engaging rthe 'cuisi on the two vlegs of a pair" of trousers; and* Figuren 'is a fragmentaryy sectional; View taken along line- 8-8 of Figure 6;

As shown in the drawing, the preferred einbodiment of my invention is formed ofI a single piece of-spring wire-, such as spring-steel wire or spring-brass wire. In form-ing the hanger; a 'suitablelength' of'springfw-ire is bent at the middle `so thatv the twohalvesof the wire Hinand `l tio-lie parallel Ato eachv other and a loop is formed at Hl, 'Figure 1u. The ends of' the parallel strands ifea :and fIGb-are bent back on eaeh othery as show-n at 10a. and .'lfb" tutori-n two additional loops I t and lillbf are crossed oirer the wires Illia and Ilb at a point' spacecl from loop. it; about .onethirdtof the distance between this loop and loops Il and' lf2, asshown at ma anni tot". The endl portions ofthesefwires .are-now twisted about wires Illa' and lsb.- to form. a twisted ysection as shown at Illc, Eigfure 1l If desired; the upper portion` ofwires lilla; andy lzll'bmay be twisted together with. end portions l n""and Iillb.

The parallel'` wires Ifb andi lilo', forming the loop liti, and the twisted portion lc, constitute a, verticalfshank portion of' the hanger, and the upper lend offthisloop isrormed into a hook portion lrct Ywhich; may be hooked' over any suitable support.

The parallel wires `tlm, and ma' forming loop Irl. are bent into. the shape shown in Figure 1 where the-` end' section lita extends in a vertical direction, the intermediate section Hb extends in a horizontal; direction apprrmirnatelyl level with ther` lower end off the hook `portion idd, and the section Iflfc` extends inwardly and downwardly to appoint belowf the twistedy portion Hic. The section lille mayfgo directly to the lower end of the twisted portion ttc but, for the-purpose of adding resiliency to. the hanger arm, I prefer to interpose a three-quarter turn loop ltd between the section l1 Ic and' the twisted shank portion Ille.

The' parallel wires #0b and Ib forming the loop- I12`a are bent in a similar manner to form an arm extending in the opposite direction from the central vertical shank and consisting of a vertioal section Iza, a horizontal section 12b, an ineli/ned; section IZfe and" a loon section id.

Where greater resiliency in the arms of the hanger is required; the loops l Id and 12d may be formed of more than one turn.

From the foregoing it will be seen that each ofV the two oppositely extending arms of the hanger formedl of yparallel wires which constitute twol parallel inverted 'if-shaped frames which may beinserted i-n the fold-s of the cuffs on the two leg-s of a pair of' trousers, as will be seen in Figure 4. This iig-ureA is a sectional View on a somewhat larger sca-le thanv Figure 1, showing how the two frames formed' of wire sections lob and |05 joinedfby loop l2A engage the inner folds or the cuffs ofthe two legs Ta To of a pair of trousers. The vertical sections Ha and l2a are of alengfthsomewhat greater than the width of the cuffVl on the trousers, so that these verticalsectionsextend from the bottom of the fold beyond the edge of the cuil?. 'Thevhorizontal sections -Hfb andv No engage the inner vedge of AlPfandtheeiitreI-ne endisof wiresections lela-nd 55 the bottom fold of 4the Cuffs and serve as supporting sections for the trousers. These sections are of appreciable length so there will be no tendency for the frames to puncture the material of the trousers or to distort the material while the trousers are suspended on the frames. Since the weight of the trousers is carried by the horizontal sections Hb and I2b, the two arms of the hanger will tend to rotate in opposite directions about the lower end of the twisted portion c, thereby causing the vertical sections Ila. and I2a to spread apar-t so that these vertical sections will engage against the inner edges of the vertical folds of the cuffs and maintain the cuifs under tension. This action tends to maintain the trousers in properly creased condition. In order to insure the spreading of the arms as described above, t-he point of attachment of the upwardly and outwardly extending portions of the two arms to the central vertical shank of the hanger should be below the cuffs. As shown in Figure l, this point is at the lower end of the twisted portion Ic which is located below the loops Il and l2.

In the modified arrangement shown in Figures 5 to 8, the hanger is formed in a similar manner by bending a length of spring wire at the middle so that the two halves of the wire lie parallel to each other. The looped end of the parallel strands is then bent to form a supporting hook A as shown in Figure 5. Immediately below the hook, the parallel wires are twisted together as at B, and below this the wires are formed into small loops Ca and Cb extending outwardly and transversely of the plane of the hook A. Below these hooked loops, the two wires are again twisted together as at De and then extend downwardly to form a vertical shank D to the point Db where they are again twisted together, and below this the two wires are coiled in opposite directions to form coil-spring sections Ea and Eb arranged substantially parallel to the plane of the hook A. From these coil sections, the wires extend outwardly and somewhat upwardly in opposite directions, forming arms Fc', and Fb. The wire forming arm Fa is extended upwardly to form portion la, then horizontally to form section 2a, then vertically downward to form section 3a, looped back at a and vertically up to form section 4a, then horizontally to form section 5a parallel to section 2a, then vertically downward to form section lia parallel with section la, and the lower end of section 6a. is twisted about the arm Fa as shown. In a similar manner, the outer end of the wire of arm Fb is bent to form a similar arrangement consisting of sections Ib, 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b and 6b.

As will be seen from Figure 5, sections la, 2a, and 3a form a vertical frame of generally rectangular shape while sections 4a, 5a and 5a form a second vertical frame arranged parallel to the frame Ia--Za-Sa and of the same shape, and these two frames are supported on the outer end of the arm Fa. A similar pair of parallel rectangular frames Ib-2b-3b and lb-Sb-Bb are supported at the end of arm Fb. These frames are inserted in the folds of the cuffs on the two legs of the trousers, as will be seen in Figure 7. This gure is a sectional View on a somewhat larger scale than Figure l, showing how frames |b-2b-3b and 4b-5b-6b engage the inner folds of the cuff of the two legs 'Ia and Tb of a pair of trousers. As will be seen, the Vertical sections lb, 6b, 3b, and 4b are of a length somewhat greater than the width of the cuff on the trousers, so that these vertical sections extend from the bottom of the fold beyond the edge of the cuff. As will be seen in Figures 5 and 7, the vertical sections 3b and 4b, which engage the inner edges of the vertical folds of the cuffs, are joined together by the loop b. In a similar manner, vertical sections 3ft- 4a engage the inner edges of the vertical folds of the cuis on the opposite side of each trousers leg, and these two sections are joined together by the loop a. The horizontal sections 2a, 5a, 2b and 5b are arranged to engage the inner edge of the bottom fold of the cuffs and serve as supporting sections for the trousers. These sections are of appreciable length so there will be no tendency for the frames to puncture the material of the trousers or to distort the material, while the trousers are suspended on the frames. The weight of the trousers is carried by the horizontal sections, and due to the resiliency of the arms Fa and Fb, and also of the coil sections Ea, Eb, the two arms Fa and Fb are bent downwardly under the weight of the trousers, thereby causing Ythe vertical sections 3a-4a and 3b-4b to separate or spread apart so that the vertical sections engage against the inner edges of the vertical folds of the cuff and maintain the cuffs of the trousers under tension. This action tends to maintain the trousers in properly creased condition.

As will be seen from Figure 5, the two parallel frames supported on each of arms Fa and Fb assume the form of hook elements having their open sides facing downwardly, each hook being formed of two parallel strands having an outer section (3a-4a and 3b-4b) arranged vertically to engage the inner edges of the vertical folds of the cuifs, and each hook having a horizontal portion or section (2a-5a and 2b-5b) for engaging the inner edges of the bottom folds of the cuffs.

When the hanger is not in use, it may be folded into a comparatively small space by hooking the two arms over the looped or hooked portions Ca and Cb formed on the shank D as shown in Figures 6 and 8. The showing in Figure 8 is on a somewhat larger scale than in Figures 5 and 6. The provision of the loops Ca and Cb for folding the hanger is not essential to the present invention, and these loops may be omitted if desired.

Various other modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. For example, instead of twisting the strands together, I may employ welding to secure the parallel strands to each other at the places where the wires have been shown twisted together in the drawing, or the wires may be fastened together in any other suitable manner as by a suitable sleeve embracing the two parallel strands at the places where the wires are to be secured together. It will also be understood that the looped portions l Id, 12d and Ea, Eb need not be provided where it is possible to secure the desired resiliency in the arms themselves.

I do not intend to limit myself to any particular procedure in forming the hanger; the shank portion may be formed first and the arms last, or vice versa. It may be formed by hand or by machine, as desired.

I claim:

l. A trousers hanger including a vertical shank member having means at the upper end thereof for suspending the same in substantially a vertical position, a pair of arms secured to the lower end of said shank and extending in opposite directions therefrom, each of said arms being formed of two substantially parallel strands of resilient wire secured to the lower end of said shank and joined at their outer ends to form a loop, and each arm comprising an inner section extending outwardly and upwardly from the lower end of said shank, an intermediate section extending horizontally outwardly from said iirst section, and an end section embodying said loop extending downwardly from said intermediate section, the wire strands forming one side of the two arms being arranged in a common plane lying on one side of said shank, and the strands forming the other sides of the two arms being arranged in a common plane parallel with said first plane and lying on the opposite side of said shank.

2. A trousers hanger including a vertical shank member having means at the upper end thereof for suspending the same in substantially a vertical position, an arm structure comprising a pair of parallel, inverted U-shaped wire frames arranged at one side of said shank with their planes on opposite sides of the axis of said shank, a second arm structure comprising a second pair of parallel, inverted U-shaped wire frames arranged in alignment with said rst pair of frames on the opposite side of said shank, one leg of each frame being positioned adjacent said shank member and the other leg thereof being spaced outwardly from said shank member, the outermost legs of each pair of frames being joined together at their lower ends to form a loop lying in a plane at right angles to the planes of said frames, and resilient supporting means connecting the lower end of each of the innermost legs of each frame to the lower end of said shank.

3. A trouser hanger according to claim 2 wherein said resilient supporting means comprises a loop section included in each frame of said hanger at the point of connection with said shank.

EDWIN T. McNUfIT, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 445,099 Traut Jan. 20, 1891 582,418 Greely May 11, 1897 2,344,604 De Gray Mar. 21, 1944 2,393,263 Puzio, Jr. Jan. 22, 1946 Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,494,400 `January 1o, 195o EDWIN T.A McNUTT, Jn.

It is hereby certified that errors appear in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 2, line 10, for wires 10b and 10b read strands 10a and 10b; line 41, for V-shaped read U-shaped;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may'conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oilice.

Signed and sealed this 16th day of May, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Commissioner of Patents. 

